Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Good afternoon, minister. Thank you for being with us today.

The first wave of COVID-19 killed thousands of seniors. The Prime Minister said that he wants to pass a bill on safe long-term care that sets national quality standards. The Standards Council of Canada, the Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Association are all in favour of developing new pan‑Canadian standards.

The draft version of the standards would lay the foundation for the future of long-term care. It is open for public review until March 27. To ensure the Senate has enough time, when do you expect to introduce a long-term care standards bill in the other place?

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: Minister Duclos, welcome.

Recently, the Health Standards Organization released their first draft of the National Long-Term Care Services Standard. This is highly anticipated because long-term care, as you just pointed out, has been a long-standing issue in this country, one made worse by the pandemic, and was the scene of some of the most disheartening instances of neglect and death during the pandemic.

You have acknowledged that these issues require a broad, systemic change that considers a number of factors: standards of care, conditions for workers, affordability, access to care, and that federal leadership is really needed and essential here.

In the face of an aging population and a weakened health care system, it is clear that the Guaranteed Income Supplement is not going to be the change that will make significant change here. Many of these issues require —

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: During the last Parliament, your government asked us to amend the medical assistance in dying legislation. The legislation, as passed, required the establishment of a special joint committee of senators and members of Parliament to report on the first few years of medical assistance in dying and to study the possibility of advance directives.

Why didn’t the government reconvene this special committee after the election?

Hon. Patricia Bovey: Thank you, minister, for being with us today. The pandemic has taken a mental and physical toll on all Canadians. Hill Strategies Research proved the strong connection between cultural participation and general and mental health. We know people who attend live theatre, classical and popular music, comedy events, cultural festivals, art galleries and who read books have better mental health and medical outcomes. B.C. doctors are now able to prescribe a national park pass to patients to aid in their mental health, and in Montreal they have been prescribing museum visits. Artists’ generosity and inspiration have given so much to us all during these two years.

Minister, is there any thought of Health Canada promoting arts and culture as a means of achieving better overall health for Canadians as we emerge from the effects of the pandemic?

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Minister, why do you still refuse to end the inconsistent measures imposed on Canadians when they cross the Canada-U.S. border on their way back into Canada?

Let me explain. Travellers can be triple vaccinated, have a negative PCR test in hand and complete an ArriveCAN form, yet they may still come across a customs officer who requires them to undergo an additional test via the internet.

How is this anything but hassling Canadians at the border?

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you. We can be extremely proud of what Canadians themselves and businesses have done over the last 22 months. Let’s just look at a few examples. In December 2020, we were the first country in the world to start administering the Moderna vaccine, and the second in the world to start administering the Pfizer vaccine. We were among the top four countries in the world to start administering the Paxlovid antiviral treatment, which we are glad to see being used across Canada.

We have seen enormous success in the contribution of businesses, small and large, in procuring and delivering personal protective equipment right from the start of COVID-19. We can be so proud of what we have done together as Canadians. It is all right if we also do so in this particular context. Let’s be fully aware of our immense fortune to have been living in Canada over the last 22 months with all of these outstanding achievements.

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you, Senator Forest.

I will limit my remarks to two aspects. First, as I mentioned a little earlier, not only has there been ongoing collaboration among the different levels of government, but it has yielded several results. In the past few weeks alone, I have attended seven meetings with my fellow health ministers from across the country.

The Prime Minister has held nearly forty meetings with his counterparts, the premiers of the provinces and territories. Many of these meetings have focused on the health response and investments in health care to protect health. In my case, the meetings have always been about that, of course. We just spoke about $2.5 billion for rapid tests, on top of investments of several hundreds of millions made a little earlier for Pfizer’s Paxlovid treatment courses.

In the meantime, vaccines are being provided free of charge to Canadians by the Government of Canada and, in my opinion, in a relatively efficient manner.

However, more needs to be done. That is why, knowing the priorities of the provinces and territories, we identified elements during the election campaign and in our platform that we believe could form the foundation for a relationship that respects provincial jurisdictions. By recognizing the government’s shared responsibility and by focusing on results, I think this relationship will continue to progress over the coming years, because we’re all in the same boat and we all have a responsibility to take care —

Senator Dalphond: The answer is more interesting than I expected. So the amendment is being proposed at the request of the province that is involved in a court battle with Canadian Pacific to end the litigation.

The Hon. the Speaker: Your time has expired, senator.

Yes, “neglect and death” is a key phrase, as you have mentioned. I would say that, again, we have a joint responsibility to look after our seniors.

We have different roles to play, but the responsibility is common. That’s why we, as a country and a government, will be both a leader and a partner. It’s about leadership, but also about a partnership. We need to do this respecting provincial and territorial jurisdictions while we focus on the results of protecting the dignity and the lives of Canadians; those results are absolutely key to our conversations and partnerships with provinces and territories.

Your Honour, I am being told that I have to leave for a period of time because I need to vote in the House of Commons. To do that I will need to turn my camera off.

The Hon. the Speaker: The time for Question Period has expired. I’m sure all senators would join me in thanking you, Minister Duclos, for being with us today. We look forward to seeing you back in the chamber again at some future time. Thank you again, minister.

(For text of Delayed Answers see Appendix.)

(At 4:05 p.m., pursuant to the orders adopted by the Senate on November 25, 2021, and earlier this day, the Senate adjourned until 2 p.m., tomorrow.)

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Donald Neil Plett on November 24, 2021)

Producers have access to a suite of business risk management (BRM) programs to help them manage significant risks that threaten the viability of their farms and are beyond their capacity to manage. AgriStability, AgriInsurance, and AgriInvest are designed to assist producers deal with their immediate financial needs.

In addition to the BRM suite, the AgriRecovery framework is able to cover the extraordinary costs related to those activities necessary to resume business operations as quickly as possible, or those actions associated with short-term actions necessary to minimize/contain the impacts of the disaster on producers.

British Columbia requested an assessment under the AgriRecovery Framework on November 19, 2021. A federal and provincial task team is assessing the impacts of the flood against the AgriRecovery criteria. This assessment will provide a better understanding of the scope of the disaster, the type and level of extraordinary expenses, and the ultimate impact on producers to ensure producers have the support they require to manage this disaster event.

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Leo Housakos on December 1, 2021)

The CRA is committed to ensuring that individuals receive only the benefits to which they are entitled, while protecting the integrity of the COVID-19 support program. In terms of suspicious and ineligible benefit claims, the analysis and review work is still ongoing. Therefore, the CRA is not able to provide the number of suspicious claims related to Canada Emergency Response Benefit or the amounts associated with them.

Dealing with complex suspected cases may require several months of review and verification. In some cases, the CRA asks taxpayers to provide documents and information that will need to be authenticated before it can continue with audits. In other cases, the CRA will identify suspicious transactions and take other preventive measures.

To ensure effective coordination of identity theft prevention, detection and response activities, the CRA works with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and local police to investigate suspicious incidents.

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Dennis Glen Patterson on December 7, 2021)

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) remains committed to supporting Indigenous communities and organizations with their needs to keep their community members safe during the pandemic. To minimize the burden on Indigenous communities, the Indigenous Community Support Fund has flowed a significant amount of funding via direct allocations. For 2021-22, funding was allocated in two direct allocation payments, on June 2, 2021, and on October 4, 2021, respectively. This funding was flowed directly to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. Urban Indigenous service providers were also provided with critical pandemic supports.

The department is aware that many recipients continue to have COVID-19-related needs and that unspent funding may need to be carried forward into the next fiscal year. In order to enable carry forwards into next fiscal year, ISC confirmed that an extension of the time-limited COVID-19 measures within the Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples’ authorities, which are currently set to expire on March 31, 2022, would be required. To ensure Indigenous communities can continue to keep their community members safe, particularly as the Omicron variant continues to circulate, ISC is working with central agencies to enable carry forwards into the next fiscal year. We are working to expedite this process.

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Colin Deacon on December 8, 2021)

A priority for the Government is to implement a common and secure digital identity platform to support Canadians in many facets of their lives including streamlined access to government services.

The Government has been working with provincial and territorial partners on the pan-Canadian approach to digital identity to accept trusted digital identities issued by other jurisdictions. This cross-jurisdictional effort requires the involvement of many stakeholders and as such this work will include the determination of any required adaptations to legislation, and a formal consultation with Canadian citizens and businesses to drive user-centric design.

In 2019, we updated the policy framework, and in mid-2021 we successfully accepted trusted digital identities issued by British Columbia and Alberta. Now, Albertans and British Columbians, using their provincial trusted digital identity, have immediate and secure access to My Service Canada Account and My CRA Account for Individuals. While progress has been slower given COVID priorities, this project is included in the mandate letter for the President of the Treasury Board, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is in the process of developing a work plan to accelerate digital identity and commits to communicating progress on milestones.

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Percy Mockler on December 17, 2021)

NRCan is working closely with all provinces and territories to establish cost-shared partnerships, including with the provinces of Atlantic Canada. These partnerships are vital to the success of the 2 Billion Trees program and will lead to long-lasting and positive outcomes. As of December 17, 2021, there are three projects by private organizations, and one grant with a First Nation organization within Atlantic Canada. Many stakeholders, communities and Indigenous organizations within Atlantic Canada have also expressed interest in the 2 Billion Trees program. Additionally, on December 16, 2021, NRCan launched a new Call for Proposals with two streams, a cost-shared tree‑planting stream and a capacity-building stream. NRCan will continue discussions with provinces and territories to establish long-term tree planting agreements to meet shared objectives.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. That is correct. I was informed that the matter of provincial and municipal taxes has been of great concern to the Province of Saskatchewan for some time.

Senator Ringuette: I understand that the Province of Saskatchewan is concerned about this, but as a Canadian citizen, I am also concerned about the corporate taxes paid to the federal government.

Canadian Pacific has been paying taxes in Saskatchewan, despite the exemption. Can you tell us whether it has been paying corporate taxes at the federal level as well? If not, why?

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, it is now 3:00 p.m. and pursuant to order adopted for this sitting for Question Period, we will take a short pause while the minister enters the chamber. I will remind honourable senators that debate on this motion will resume at the next sitting of the Senate.

(1500)

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Senator Galvez, I will get back to you about the more specific and relevant aspects regarding Bill C-28.

However, I can tell you that I very much appreciate your question. It is an excellent one. I appreciate the link you made between people’s physical and mental health, the health of the physical environment, meaning the natural environment that nourishes us and sustains us, the health of the economy — we now know how connected people’s health is to the health of the economy — and the health of our society. The health of our society includes reducing inequality, poverty, vulnerability and marginalization. All this goes hand in hand in a society like Canada, which is always striving to be better. So I commend you, and I thank you for making this important link between all these aspects of health. I promise to get back to you later on Bill C-28.

Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Although Canada is showing incredible unity in fighting COVID-19, especially when it comes to recognizing that vaccination is key to that fight, there are diverse points of view. Some people still believe that vaccination is not effective or doesn’t work. I heard some individuals say this again yesterday in the House of Commons.

That really worries me. It was said again today in the House of Commons, and it is one thing that divides us. There are still people in Canada, including some Conservative MPs, unfortunately, who say vaccination doesn’t work.

That is terrible. It is both ironic and tragic that, a year after we started administering vaccines in this country, some people still think vaccination doesn’t work and must be stopped. That really worries me. Vaccination is the most important tool we have to guard against lockdowns, social ills, and the economic and fiscal costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. People need to stop spreading this kind of idea, which is dividing Canadians.

Hon. Rosa Galvez: Minister Duclos, exposure to toxic substances is a public health issue and an environmental justice issue.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment welcomed Bill C-28, which was introduced last year, but it is calling on the government to do more.

A bill was introduced in the Senate today, Bill S-5, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, to make related amendments to the Food and Drugs Act and to repeal the Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Virtual Elimination Act. Have you held any further consultations since Bill C-28 was introduced? What improvements can we expect in the new bill? As Minister of Health, what are you doing to address the environmental injustice that disproportionately affects the health of Indigenous peoples and racialized people?